Chocolate Firm Eyes Diet
Tips Amid Obesity Debate
Excerpt by Begona Quesada, Reuters Health

A leading British chocolate manufacturer said it may include diet tips on its product labels as sports stars and celebrities were criticized for promoting unhealthy food blamed for a sharp rise in child obesity.

Cadbury Schweppes, one of the world's biggest international beverage and confectionery companies, said it had not decided what wording would be used on the labels, aimed at its British market, but added it would not be a warning.

"It is true we are looking at a number of options to provide better labeling for the consumer in terms of understanding what a balanced diet is," a spokeswoman for the company stated.

Cadbury announced the move as The Lancet medical journal called for a stop to stars endorsing unhealthy food and amid warnings from health experts that obesity among children is a time bomb waiting to explode.

"Celebrity endorsement of junk food has to be banned," The Lancet said in an editorial, adding to a growing chorus of criticism in Europe and North America that foods and sweets with high fat or sugar content are causing a huge increase in obesity among children.

The journal also called for legislation to force the "junk food" industry to clean up its act and criticized the British government for allowing Cadbury to market chocolate in its Get Active campaign in a scheme that allows children to exchange chocolate wrappers for sports equipment.

"It takes a lot of chocolate wrappers: a volleyball valued at about 18 pounds ($30.38) would cost around 320 chocolate bars (costing about 134 pounds)," the journal noted.

Cadbury said it wanted to play its part in the debate about obesity and would make a decision about package labels over the next two weeks.

"At the moment this is something we are looking at purely as Cadbury in the U.K," the spokesperson added.

The Lancet cited figures from Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) that showed obesity in 15-year-olds has trebled to 15 percent over the past 10 years.

It also criticized the British Broadcasting Corporation, which is funded by license fees and taxes, for franchising its Tweenies childrens' program characters, popular among pre-school aged children, to fast-food giant McDonald's.

McDonald's, in a statement, said that it fully complied with British advertising and sales promotions standards and also imposed internal company standards that are even more stringent.

"In addition, we have always advocated the benefit of a balanced diet and lifestyle and we provide a variety of products to accommodate different tastes and preferences," the statement said.

Rather than voluntary agreements with manufacturers, The Lancet, which is Britain's leading medical journal, called for legislation to regulate the production of unhealthy food.

"Food needs clear, probably iconic, labeling for its nutritional content -- an icon for junk food should be easy to design," it said.

Reference Source 89

For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".